


Rachni song

by soldiermom1973



Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [32]
Category: Mass Effect (Comics), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: ExoGeni, F/M, Gen, Nodacrux, Rachni, they sound like whales to me, weird noises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973
Summary: Allie, Kaidan, and Garrus are following up on some information they got while on Feros.  They find themselves on Nodacrux and hear something they've never heard before.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko & Allie Shepard, Kaidan Alenko & Female Shepard, Kaidan Alenko/Allie Shepard
Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1460416
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Rachni song

**Author's Note:**

> I won't lie - every time I play ME1, I check planetary maps for where you can hear Rachni songs and hang out for a bit. The noise reminds me of a whale's song and I find it to be haunting and chilling. Last night, I wondered what Shepard and their team might think the first time they heard it, too, and this story is the result. I hope you like it!

They were on Nodacrux the first time Allie heard it. She was investigating a lead she picked up while on Feros – something about test samples disappearing and a colony on Nodacrux that was somehow tied to ExoGeni. Once the Thorian was dealt with and making sure the colony would be ok, Allie directed Joker to get them to the Vostok System in the Maroon Sea so she could find out what else was going on.

She, Kaidan, and Garrus touched down on the planet and immediately picked up hostile readings on their radar. She didn't drive the Mako too close, choosing instead to use her sniper scope to find out who was there.

“Looks like Creepers,” Garrus muttered, looking through his scope, too. “Just like on Feros.”

“Yeah,” Allie agreed. “Let's take them out from here. I'd rather not have them puke that venom on me again.”

Once the Creepers were taken care of, Allie drove the Mako closer to the prefab the creatures were standing around. Then she heard it – a high pitched wail, quickly followed by a lower tone that reminded her of... something.

“A whale,” Kaidan whispered, his eyes wide. “Did you hear it? Tell me you guys heard that! It sounds just like a whale!”

The trio listened again for several seconds before their ears were assailed by a howl of sorts. “What is that?” Allie asked, her shotgun snug against her shoulder. “I didn't see anything else on the radar.”

“What's a whale?” Garrus whispered, carefully scanning the area in front of him.

“An earth mammal, lives underwater,” Kaidan explained, mimicking his friend's stance. “And they sound just like that. I'll play you a clip when we get back on the ship.”

“Joker, are the ship's scanners picking up anything unusual near our location?” Allie whispered into her comms.

“Negative, Commander,” came the staticky reply, “seems all clear down there. Everything ok?”

“We're hearing some weird noises.” Allie spun around when another wail split through the air. “I'll have Kaidan record a sample and we can see about getting it analyzed. Keep your eyes on the scanner, though, and let me know if it picks up anything weird.”

“Will do, Commander.”

Allie examined the prefab while Kaidan and Garrus kept an eye on their surroundings. They never saw anything and Joker never came back and said there was anything on the scanner, but the noise was persistent. Every time she heard it, a chill of dread slithered down Allie's spine.

When she finished her search, the trio scurried back to the Mako. She had Kaidan upload his audio clip to the Normandy and didn't waste another second getting away from the area.

“What do you think it was?” Garrus asked.

“I have no idea,” Allie shook her head, focused on the area around her. “No idea at all.”

The rest of the mission almost went off without a hitch – they found a team of scientists and their mercenary bodyguards in another building and discovered they were experimenting with the Thorian's mind control ability on other innocent people. They tried to bribe Allie, who was having none of it. A gunfight ensued and, well, scientists and mercenaries were no match for the first human Spectre and her squad.

Once the Normandy picked them up, Joker told Allie he was still analyzing the noise they heard on the surface. “It's really weird, Commander,” he explained as they changed out of their armor. “Everything I'm finding is hidden behind some tight security. I'm still working on it, though.”

“Just be careful, Joker,” Allie cautioned him. “I don't need a virus taking over the ship's functions.”

“Come on, Shepard,” Joker huffed, “have a little faith.”

“I do have a little,” Allie teased before he closed the link.

“So, you two said something about a whale?” Garrus asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Kaidan nodded. “Here.”

He opened his omnitool and tapped his fingers along the keys. A few seconds later, the screen split into four sections, each one showing a different video of whales – swimming, breeching, and feeding. Humpback whales, blue whales, sperm whales... Kaidan tried showing Garrus several different kinds while the turian's eyes widened with each vid that played.

“I thought you said they were mammals,” he sputtered.

“They are. They birth live young,” Kaidan explained. “Some species came very close to extinction a couple hundred years ago. When I was a kid, my parents would take me on a cruise every year along the Canadian coast and up to Alaska specifically to watch the humpbacks. There is nothing like seeing over thirty tons of mass fly out of the water and crash back onto the surface. These vids don't do it justice.”

Allie watched the vids and their conversation in silence. She had learned about whales when she was in school, but only ever saw them in pictures. Her biology teacher played recordings of their songs, but that was about it.. She'd never even seen a video of one before, so she was just as awe-struck as Garrus was. She wondered what it would be like to see one in person and made a mental note to ask Kaidan for more information about one of those cruises – it might make for an interesting shore leave.

“You're right, though,” Garrus mused. “That noise we heard does seem very similar to a whale. There are some distinct differences....”

“I didn't say it was an exact match,” Kaidan reminded him, “just that it reminded me of a whale's song.”

“What do you think, Shepard?” Garrus turned to Allie, his mandibles twitching. “Any idea what we heard?”

“Not a clue,” she admitted. “I mean, it could be manipulated recordings of whale songs, but why? Were those scientists trying to use it to control those Creepers? And where would the speakers have been? I mean, I don't know about you two, but that noise seemed to come from every direction and at the same volume.”

The trio made their way up to the mess. Allie was starving and knew Kaidan would be, too, an idea confirmed when he helped her grab some pans and food from the fridge. Garrus put on a kettle to make himself some tea and started a fresh pot of coffee. They stood in silence for a few moments before Allie decided there was no better time than the present.

“So, how long as it been since you were on one of those cruises?” she asked Kaidan.

“Hm? Oh, it's been...” he frowned as he thought, “probably close to 16 or 17 years. Why?”

“It sounds like a lot of fun,” she admitted. “I was hoping you'd remember the name of the cruise line so I could look into it on our next shore leave.”

“I could come along,” he offered. The excitement in his voice was obvious and Garrus had to bite back a laugh. “I mean, if you wanted,” he stammered, glaring at his friend. “It's just, I've done it a lot and it might help having someone along who knows what to look for.”

Allie felt her own face flush right alongside Kaidan's. She was going to make the suggestion anyway and the fact he offered first made her heart flutter in her chest. “Sure,” she said, hoping she didn't sound _too_ enthusiastic. “I don't mind traveling alone, but having a buddy makes things more fun.”

Garrus sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. Allie thought he said, “Just kiss already,” but before she could ask him, Joker came over the comms.

“Hey, Commander, I got a hit on those noises you guys heard down there and you aren't going to believe what it was.”

“Oh? Hit me with it, then,” she answered.

“Rachni.”

All three of them stopped what they were doing and stared at each other. “Say again, Joker? It sounded like you just said 'rachni'.”

“I did just say rachni. It's good to know you're hearing is still ok.”

Kaidan and Garrus chuckled at the pilot's sass and Allie just shook her head. “How could there be rachni here? They're all extinct.”

“I have no idea, Commander. That's your job. I just sit here and look good while I shuttle you around the galaxy. Joker out.”

Kaidan let out a low whistle. “Wow. Rachni. We didn't see any, though and none of the scanners picked anything up. Do you think those scientists were doing something else?”

“I don't know,” Allie answered. “Let's hope not. I mean, Cerberus was doing some really fucked up shit, so who knows? Maybe they managed to clone one somehow.”

She shuddered at the thought of the galaxy being thrown into war again with the insect-like creatures. “Using their song to control the Creepers makes sense, though. If I remember correctly, the rachni have a hive mentality, almost like the geth.”

“Scary proposition,” Garrus said, pouring them each their desired beverages – black coffee for Kaidan, coffee with cream and sugar for Allie, and some mint tea for himself. “Not just using a rachni call to control the population, but having them come back at all. We barely won the last war with them and I don't think the krogan will be as quick to come to our rescue a second time.”

Garrus excused himself to head back down to the cargo hold. “It's going to take me a little bit to buff out some of those scratches. You really should learn how to drive, Shepard.”

He laughed when she flipped him off and as soon as he was gone she turned her attention back to Kaidan. “And what about you, LT? Do you need to tinker at that workstation some more?” she teased.

“Actually, I've got a new algorithm I wanted to install,” he explained, his eyes lighting up. Allie grinned at his enthusiasm when he explained he'd come up with a better way to schedule everyone's annual qualifications.

Her smile faded as she thought about the implications of the rachni returning to the galaxy. She wondered if she should include the information in one of her reports to either the Alliance or the Council. She decided not to, in case this was a one-off fluke.

Still, the idea chilled her to the bone. She heard the stories, seen the news articles, watched vids detailing the creatures' viciousness. It was bad enough she had a rogue Spectre to bring to heel, the last thing she wanted to worry about was an extinct race coming back from the dead.

So, she focused instead on cooking and on how Kaidan's hands gestured as he talked about his tech, the way his eyes lit up with excitement, and how his smile made the dimple in his chin a little more pronounced.

It was a good way to get her mind off the odd noises they heard on the planet's surface.


End file.
